Commonwealth Consolidated Acts Commonwealth Consolidated Acts(1) Subject to this section, the functions of the Inspector-General in relation to ASIO are:
(a) at the request of the responsible Minister, of the Inspector-General's own motion or in response to a complaint made to the Inspector-General, to inquire into any matter that relates to:
(i) the compliance by ASIO with the laws of the Commonwealth and of the States and Territories; or
(ii) the compliance by ASIO with directions or guidelines given to ASIO by the responsible Minister; or
(iii) the propriety of particular activities of ASIO; or
(iv) the effectiveness and appropriateness of the procedures of ASIO relating to the legality or propriety of the activities of ASIO; or
(v) an act or practice of ASIO that is or may be inconsistent with or contrary to any human right, that constitutes or may constitute discrimination, or that is or may be unlawful under the Age Discrimination Act 2004 , the Disability Discrimination Act 1992 , the Racial Discrimination Act 1975 or the Sex Discrimination Act 1984 , being an act or practice referred to the Inspector-General by the Australian Human Rights Commission; and
(b) at the request of the responsible Minister or of the Inspector-General's own motion, to inquire into the procedures of ASIO relating to redress of grievances of employees of ASIO; and
(c) at the request of the responsible Minister, to inquire into the action (if any) that should be taken to protect the rights of a person who is an Australian citizen or a permanent resident in a case where:
(i) ASIO has furnished a report to a Commonwealth agency (within the meaning of Part IV of the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation Act 1979 ) that may result in the taking of action that is adverse to the interests of the person; and
(ii) the report could not be reviewed by the Security Appeals Division of the Administrative Appeals Tribunal;
and, in particular, to inquire into whether the person should be informed of the report and given an opportunity to make submissions in relation to the report; and
(d) where the responsible Minister has given a direction to ASIO on the question whether:
(i) the collection of intelligence concerning a particular individual is, or is not, justified by reason of its relevance to security; or
(ii) the communication of intelligence concerning a particular individual would be for a purpose relevant to security;
to inquire into whether that collection is justified on that ground or whether that communication would be for that purpose, as the case may be.
(2) Subject to this section, the functions of the Inspector-General in relation to ASIS, DIGO or DSD are:
(a) at the request of the responsible Minister, of the Inspector-General's own motion or in response to a complaint made to the Inspector-General by a person who is an Australian citizen or a permanent resident, to inquire into any matter that relates to:
(i) the compliance by that agency with the laws of the Commonwealth and of the States and Territories; or
(ii) the compliance by that agency with directions or guidelines given to that agency by the responsible Minister; or
(iii) the propriety of particular activities of that agency; or
(iv) an act or practice of that agency that is or may be inconsistent with or contrary to any human right, that constitutes or may constitute discrimination, or that is or may be unlawful under the Age Discrimination Act 2004 , the Disability Discrimination Act 1992 , the Racial Discrimination Act 1975 or the Sex Discrimination Act 1984 , being an act or practice referred to the Inspector-General by the Australian Human Rights Commission; and
(b) at the request of the responsible Minister or of the Inspector-General's own motion, to inquire into the procedures of that agency relating to redress of grievances of employees of that agency; and
(c) at the request of the responsible Minister or of the Inspector-General's own motion, to inquire into the effectiveness and appropriateness of the procedures of that agency relating to the legality or propriety of the activities of that agency.
(3) Subject to this section, the functions of the Inspector-General in relation to DIO or ONA are:
(a) at the request of the responsible Minister or of the Inspector-General's own motion, to inquire into any matter that relates to:
(i) the compliance by that agency with the laws of the Commonwealth and of the States and Territories; or
(ii) the propriety of particular activities of that agency; or
(iii) the effectiveness and appropriateness of the procedures of that agency relating to the legality or propriety of the activities of that agency; and
(b) at the request of the responsible Minister or of the Inspector-General's own motion, to inquire into any matter that relates to:
(i) an act or practice of that agency that is or may be inconsistent with or contrary to any human right, that constitutes or may constitute discrimination, or that is or may be unlawful under the Age Discrimination Act 2004 , the Disability Discrimination Act 1992 , the Racial Discrimination Act 1975 or the Sex Discrimination Act 1984 , being an act or practice referred to the Inspector-General by the Australian Human Rights Commission; or
(ii) the procedures of that agency relating to redress of grievances of employees of that agency; and
(c) at the request of the responsible Minister or of the Inspector-General's own motion, to inquire into any matter in relation to the statutory independence of ONA.
(4) The Inspector-General shall not, of his or her own motion or in response to a complaint made to the Inspector-General, perform any of the functions set out in paragraph (2)(a) in relation to action taken by ASIS, DIGO or DSD except to the extent that Australian citizens or permanent residents are affected or a law of the Commonwealth, a State or a Territory may be violated.
(5) The functions of the Inspector-General under subsections (1), (2) and (3) do not include inquiring into a matter to which a complaint to the Inspector-General made by an employee of DIGO, DSD, DIO or ONA relates to the extent that the matter is directly related to:
(a) the promotion, termination of appointment, discipline or remuneration of the employee by the agency; or
(b) another matter relating to the agency's employment of the employee.
(6) The functions of the Inspector-General include inquiring into a matter to which a complaint to the Inspector-General made by an ASIO employee or an ASIS employee relates to the extent that the matter is directly related to:
(a) the promotion, termination of appointment, discipline or remuneration of the employee by ASIO or ASIS; or
(b) another matter relating to the employment of the employee by ASIO or ASIS.
(7) However, the Inspector-General must not inquire into a matter referred to in subsection (6) to the extent that the employee can have the matter reviewed by a body constituted by, or including, persons other than:
(a) for an ASIO employee--the Director-General of Security or ASIO employees; and
(b) for an ASIS employee--the Director-General of ASIS or ASIS employees.
Note: See also subsection 11(5).
(9) The Inspector-General may perform functions conferred on the Inspector-General by another Act.
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